Skill Order

Champion Matchups

Introduction: About the Author

Hello everyone. My name is Ram "AL Brokenshard" Djemal, I am a 2.3k elo jungler main whos most played champion and favorite champion is Lee Sin, the blind Monk.

I have over 220 games and a 66% win ratio with Lee Sin.

I am 19 years old and from Israel. Some of the teams that I have played with include Luna gaming, ESC gaming, Absolute Legends.Omega and IWantCookie. Currently I am trying out for team ex-WinFakt also known as Farmer Steve as their jungler.

I have been playing League of Legends for almost 3 years now, and have been playing and loving Lee Sin since his release.

UPDATED FOR S3

Introduction: About Lee Sin

I love Lee Sin. Lee Sin went from underplayed to overpowered, to nerfed, to nerfed again, and nerfed again, to played by russian gods and currently being one of the most commonly played champion in games all over. He seems to be favored by Korean and Asian teams, however, we pretty much see him played, and when he is played well its always a joy to watch. Notable Lee Sin players in my opinion are:

EU
ShookL2, Myself, Diamondprox, Froggen (eh. :D)

NA
Chauster, Doublelift, (MAYBE) TheOddOne

Korea/SEA
All junglers. nuff said.

Lee Sin is probably one of the most versetile champions in the game, he goes from an assasin burster in the early game, to a tank bruiser in the midgame, and peeler in the late game. His early game damage is matched almost by no one, and his utility if properly used can save your team and win them teamfights.

Pros:
- High damage early and mid game
- Versetile kit
- Great buff and dragon control
- His kit can be used and abused to do pretty much everything

Cons:
- Very high skill cap
- VERY high skill cap
- If you get shut down too hard early its hard to get back into the game
- Relies on team to carry game past mid game, so its problematic if you get all the kills

Masteries

Lee Sin Masteries

9/21/0

I run 9/21/0 myself for several reasons

9/21/0 is probably the best over-all masteries to run for Lee Sin. It grants him enough offensive power in the early game combined with your runes, as well as grants you the defensive tree in order to make yourself a relevant tanky force in the mid and late game.

You keep your strength throughout the entire game, and doesn't make you as reliant on defensive items. Also, the defense tree is the most cost effective overall. You need the masteries in the defense tree more than you do in the offense tree.

Even now in s3, 9/21/0 makes the most sense, and Flat AD becomes more powerful

Runes

The Runset

15 AD through marks and quints

Why?

I find that since you're running a heavy defense tree for masteries, its important to compensate it through getting yourself some AD runes. The runeset allows you to make plays in the early game and allows you to deal very high damage without many damage items. Also, 3 of your abilities scale with Ad but only 2 scale with armor penetration.

Flat defenses

Why?

The flat armor should be explanatory, but I love running flat magic resistance on Lee Sin because you make plays for the early game. The only thing that is focused to make you stronger out of the early game is your masteries, the runes giving you flat magic resistance will mean the difference between killing the enemy APmid or getting your anus bursted by him.

Flat AD is now more powerful than arpen

Summoner Spells

Explanation:

You are a jungler. Junglers take smite. If you have any problems with this don't you dare write it here because i'll assume you're trolling.

After smite there is heavy discussion regarding which summoner is better.

or

Personally I prefer over the added CC that gives because of how my mind works. Having an extra jump is going to make you not only undpredictable, but adds a whole new level of depth to your skill combos. Without flash you wont be able to flash R someone behind, or Q + Q + flash + R someone. It adds a level on unpredictability that is hard to find while getting exhaust. While I do agree that the exhaust ganks are deadly, I feel more comfortable in my abilities to make plays while having flash.

For example:

Skills

Passive: Flurry

Explanation:

The reason you don't need attackspeed runes to make you strong in the jungle. Careful usage of this passive in both jungle and teamfights will help you become a great lee sin. It's also an excellent energy refund, so be sure to use it intelligently.

Q: Sonic Wave

Explanation:

The famous rasengan ability of Lee Sin. Sonic Wave into Resonating Strike is probably the most awesome ability in the game. There are a million and 1 ways to use this ability offensively and defensively, and it would take me hours to list them all. All I can say is think outside the box, sometimes landing this on a different target will get you the target you want all along.

W: Safeguard

Explanation:

Safeguard into Iron Will is the glue that holds your kit together. This ability along with your Q will allow you to make plays that no other champion can replicate. Keep an open mind about your surroundings and always carry wards with you.

Note: You can W to Jarvans flag and Zyras plants, as well as Elise's spiderlings and Malzahars minions

E: Tempest

Explanation:

Your CC and cripple ability. Overall its one of Lee's boring abilities, but it does not mean its not important. The CC of this ability make Lee very dangerous in 1v1's and late game it hurts AD carries like a bitch.

R: Dragon's Rage

Explanation:

Hikuuu! This ability is probably one of the coolest ultimates. while it may seem like a nuke, it flows so well with all your abilities. Like Q and W, you must always be aware of your surroundings. You should know the best way to use your ultimate is not always about damage.

Skill Order

I run a very wierd skill order.

LEVEL 1:

You have a choice between E or Q. Generally, starting E is the accepted path, however, getting a lvl 1 point into Q allows you to check bushes beforehand, and allows you to do the buff camp faster.

At level 2:

If I started with E and I'm moving to red, i take W. If i started with E and moving to blue, I take q. the reason is that I can q over the wall onto blue to save A LOT of time. If I started with Q, I LOVE to take W because of the extra sustain.

At Level 3:

Take whatever you didnt' get, make sure you get all skills by level 3.

4 and 5:

By level 5 you want both W and Q at level 2. Its important to do so since more points into W can save you or an allies life early on.

6: Ulimate

From there, you want to max W and Q. Its preference above anything else here. You trade off some damage for a good chunk of survivability if you max Q and vice versa.

Lee Sin Ability Tutorial: Q

Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike

This Ability is used to:

Initiate fights

Execute targets

Close Distance

Make clearing time faster

Securing Buffs with smite

Opening and closing combos

The ability has a million and 1 uses. You can use it offensively to deal damage, but many people under-estimate excactly how useful this ability is outside of a damage nuke.

Item Build

Machete is a really strong item, much better than boots or cloth armor.

Core:

+ +

Wriggles for jungle clear, boots of speed for mobility, and ruby crystal because it builds into many different items that all benefit lee.

After Core items:

Your can turn into multiple different items depending on what you aim to accomplish. If you want some damage, your next items might consist of and . If you want some tankiness, I recommend the very standard .

From there, the new items are very fun to mess around with and there are many strong new viable items for junglers since most items now build off of smaller items. Generally, you'll want to build a and enchant it for probably Alacrity, since more MS is nice.

If you want to be tankier, you have a great amount of options:

Mixed but aiming towards MR?

Armor and HP? has become an INCREDIBLE armor item, and it turns into the great .

Flat MR: This is very problematic, since MR items are now very limited. I actually like as a final item since it gives you a free QSS and nice damage.

NOTE: THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, AND I CANNOT PUT FINAL BUILDS. THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT ITEMS AND DIFFERENT GOOD BUILD OPTIONS FOR THE NEW JUNGLE. EACH GAME WILL HAVE YOU BUILD SOMETHING DIFFERENT, THIS IS JUST A BASIC OUTLINE!

Early Game: Your path and your goal

Early Game as the blind monk

Step 1: The Plan

When you play Lee Sin in the early game its very important that you have yourself a plan, or a general idea of what you want to accomplish in the first 8 minutes of the game.

The best way to begin formulating your plan is by deciding upon a jungle path

As Lee, you can start anywhere since you're an energy based Jungler, but I'll elaborate more on some of the starting paths.

To my eye, there are really only 3 major types of paths:

The smiteless, the standardized and the sustained paths.

The smiteless

If you are on blue side, you start at red. If you are purple side, you start at blue. Your aim is to recieve a smiteless leash on your first buff camp, meaning you SAVE YOUR SMITE. After completing this buff you move to your 2nd buff camp, clear it with smite and gank the nearest lane (which is top.) This is a highly aggressive path, and is probably the most common. If the enemy does a similar path, you will both reach top around the same time. Lee does however reach there faster than most other junglers, and can actually win most 2v2 engagements.

The standardized

This is more oriented for a defensive counter-gank style. For example, you can pretty much start anywhere with this path and you clear your jungle normally. This path is good when you are against a jungler that has a very obvious path OR you have wards that will alert you to ganks. Generally this is good in the situation that your 2v2 fight (top + jungler vs enemy top + jungler) is weaker, which in some cases is a possibility.

The sustained

No. You are lee sin. You are meant to be a threat in the early game there is no sustained path I recommend.

Once you have your path figured out, its important to know excactly what the enemy jungler is capable of.

Lee sin is an incredibly mobile and self-efficient jungler. He has high damage, great CC, and the ability to fight almost anyone at the early levels. Knowing your opponent and how to exploit their weaknesses will only help you get ahead.

Counter Hard
He's easy to track, easy to kill. His damage might be decent early on, but don't make any stupid mistakes (like missing Q) and you'll come out on top every time.

Careful counter
Alistar has 2 forms of CC that will keep you in place for god knows how long. However, he neglects his jungle for ganking. Alistar will start blue, get level 2 and then gank mid. If alistar doesn't gank early, then he is doing something wrong. You should take the lead and just take his creeps whenever hes ganking. You know for a fact he'll gank after blue, so pay a visit to his wraiths, and then red. You shouldn't fight him, as his CC will keep you in place long enough for his team to arrive, but taking his jungle is a great way to set him behind.

Depends
Mundo clears the jungle at a super speed and he can start at either red or blue. If you know he started at blue, you should take his red. Mundo without farm is useless, so if you can find a way to shut him down, do so. If he's running exhaust, and you aren't, it will be a close fight, but if you both are running exhaust, you should outright win him. Just don't get kited by Cleavers and be sure to land your Q

Counter hard
Gangplank is a weak jungler. He has a slow clear with little sustain. His strength lies in his ability to snowball if fed, and his ultimate. If you can find a gangplank in his jungle, destroy him. Just be careful he doesn't orange your exhaust. He will start blue, so take his red. Without red, GP will have a hard time ganking.

Counter
Jarvan is like alistar in the sense that he spends more time ganking than farming. He's a weak 1v1er against bruisers early. You should just walk in and out of his jungle. Although, his CC is potent, so don't engage in a fight unless he's already low, or you might be ganked by his team-mates.

Careful
She out damages you, clears faster, and is overall a fucking threat. If she takes exhaust and you don't have it, get the crap out. If you have good team coordination, you can gank her in her jungle or in your jungle, as with a teammate with CC she can't escape with exhaust as a summoner

Counter with care
Maokai is like Alistar. Buttloads of CC. He can deal some nice damage early with his combo, but his CC is what's the problem. Counter his wraiths, take his red, disrupt his early set-up and you've successfully held Maokai back. Be warned, his ganks are strong, so careful warding is advised.

Counter with care
Like maokai, he has a lot of CC, but most of his damage comes from his shield, which you burst through in mere seconds. His early clear is slow, so take his red since he MUST start blue. You can fight him if he's low, but his array of CC will make it so that their team will be a problem. Also, he can anchor to walls for an easy escape.

Fight smartly
Nocturnes Q adds a lot to his damage output and his shield can proc from 4 OF 4 OF YOUR LEVEL 2 ABILITIES. Be careful about his shield, fight him smartly and you will come on top. Otherwise, he will eat you.

Counter hard
Like all other gank oriented junglers, Rammus has a weak clear. Taking his wraiths and red is a good way to set him back, because Rammus needs level 3 to gank, delaying it will make your lanes more prepared and/or have the ability to stop him if he comes for a gank. His CC is a problem, so don't get too overzealous, but you will win in a straight fight.

DESTROY HER
Her clear is slow, she deals no damage and has no sustain. Her CC is okay pre-6, but nothing special. Destroy this girl. Take her red, take her wraiths, take her lunch money and make her cry.

Fight him with care
Shaco is a trickster, and thus will try to make your life hell. If he's taken exhaust, be careful about the trap placement and you should come out on top. Against a shaco, I always reccomend starting cloth and 5 pots so he can't catch you low on HP.

Fight him with care
Skarner is a beast. He jungles fast, stays at high HP, and has a great slow that will keep you around for long periods of time. If he's low, you should totally kill him with exhaust, but if he isn't, leave him. He will kite you around long enough for his team to arrive.

Fight with care
Trundle saps AD, has a pillar that blocks paths, a steroid, and a good clear time. Do NOT fight trundle.

Counter but do not fight
You can take a phoenix udyr in a fight, but a tiger will shit on you. You can try and counter him by warding his jungler, but he is a fast clearer. He is similar to mundo, so treat him that way.

Destroy him
Destroy him. His sustain may be high, but he has NO dueling power early on. His clear is also slow. Take his stuff, make him cry, make him feel like a Sejuani. Delay his 6 as much as possible and you've won the jungle.

Now that you have sufficient information about the enemy jungler, here are a few quick pointers to making your early game as Lee Sin as successful as possible.

The early game is all about making the early forces. You must plant a presence into this part of the game to be successful as lee sin.

Ganking lanes

Ganking mid for a TF or Ryze at level 2 is almost always a sure kill if you play it correctly. a W/stuncard followed by lee's high damage output is difficult to get away from

Ganking bot for a taric or alistar is just as fun. You probably wont get a kill considering AD's dont have alot of damage output, however, the burnt summoners and threat or Lee being around is more than enough to plant your presence onto this lane early.

Ganking top for high burst damage champions (Udyr, GP, Wu Kong, Rengar) or for high CC champions (Nautilus, Cho Gath, Jax, Irelia) is very good. Even if you're not getting the kill, the top lane will either have to go back, or waste all his potions. Top is a very snow-ball based lane, and even with no kill, their top lane will suffer from a jungle Lee.

Be sure to gauge your 2v2 power top lane if you are planning to do an early game gank. Getting counter ganked might be the worst possible thing, or the thing you need most to push the early advantage

Counter Jungling
Counter jungling is a bit more difficult than ganking, since it comes from experience. You need to know when to get the hell out and when to stay in. You need to be aware of the possibility of wards, and you need to purchase some yourself. Good targets to counter jungle are slow low sustain junglers such as Amumu. You can find/fight them at red. You can also choose to counter jungle early gankers by starting blue and going straight for red.

There are many ways to counter jungle the enemy, even taking the small camps of a blue starting jungle is effective, as well as setting up for ganks with your team. Lee needs to constantly be moving, clearing his own jungle ganking and counter jungling. The early game is the most hectic and most important standpoint for a lee, it is very important you do not mess up here.

Buff and Objective Control and Teamfights

Step 2: picking your fights

Dragon and Buff control

As Lee Sin, you can start actively contesting dragon at levels 6-7 when you've obtained a madreds razor. You are able to do the dragon very easily if you have 2 ranks into your W, although its a lot safer with 3 or so. Its also very difficult to outsmite a Lee Sin, simply because he can combo his smite with his Q to achieve damage of approximately 800 when you are as low as level 6. Fighting for Dragon is a different story. As lee you really can't hope to tank it for long, it will drain your HP. If you plan to fight an enemy in the process of doing dragon, you can use your Q to get to hard to reach spots to use your burst damage on squishy targets. Generally the best person to focus is the one tanking the drake since they will already be low.

Teamfighting

If you are very snowballed, its sometimes a great idea to dive in to the enemy team and pick people off. Your Q is not only a high damage spell but a great displacement tool. Combo burst with your AP carry to completely obliterate threats early on in the fight. You are also a great peeler, using your shield, E slow and red buff to protect the squishier members of your team with great ease.

Generally, as the game gets closer and closer to late game, you should be playing teamfights more and more defensively. By defensively I mean you should protect your carries. However, early in the game, you deal a lot of damage and are quite tough, so use your early and mid game power to your advantage.

Securing the win: Lategame teamfights and Nashor

Step 3: Ending the game

Late game teamfights

Your AD carry should be closing in onto his final items and should be dishing out the MOST damage. Its safe to assume as well that the enemy AD carry has been farming optimally and is closing in on the same items as well. It would be almost suicide to rush into him and get melted. If you can secure the AD carry with a good ultimate, its probably the one thing that will win you a fight straight up. However, if you fail, you'll be in a predicament: you're in the middle of the enemy team, flash/W has been used and they're all locking their spells onto you. You need to gauge the risk. Generally, keeping your AD safe is the best bet. Slowing enemy initiators with E as well as kicking them away can probably win you fights in the first seconds of the engagement.

In the late game, no bruiser is that tanky, meaning in a few auto hits the AD would have shredded you down and begun to move onto its next target. Protect your AD and secure the win

Baron control

Baron control is probably one of Lee Sin's most powerful aspect in the late game. His control is matched only by a or competent . Wards are mandatory. If you're on the nashor be ready to kick any threats away, notably the enemy jungler. Its a great idea to make sure your team nukes it hard in the last 2000 HP, since it will be much harder for the enemy jungler to smite it and will go well with your Q + smite + Q combo.

If you are engaging on an enemy team doing nashor, you should always choose to engage with your team. The pit is set up so that any team doing nashor will probably have their ranged carries on the outer ring, and he melee bruisers inside. Try to catch one of the carries in the outer ring.

Stealing Nashor is about 90% luck and 10% skill. Its simply very difficult, and you have a better chance fighting for it than attempting to steal it.

Wards are key! all throughout the game you must carry sufficient WARDZ.

Videos!

Me snowballing as Lee.

Final Comments

I hope you enjoyed this guide as much as I have, and hope that you'll have the same success as Lee.

If you liked my guide and want to support me, please like me at www.facebook.com/BrokenshardStream